Abortion Rights

[tassosss]

via wendelah1

We Won't Go Back

When I was in college, I was a volunteer with Planned Parenthood. While I was a nurse at UCLA Medical Center, for 14 years I took care of women who were having second trimester abortions. My AmazonSmile has been set up to donate to Planned Parenthood Los Angeles since AmazonSmile was created. I make a monthly contribution to Planned Parenthood. A few years back, I even sent money to Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas to help keep their clinics open. This issue is important to me.

Since the landmark Roe v. Wade in 1973, I have witnessed a slow erosion of women's right to choose. I shudder to think what Vice-President-elect Mike Pence and his buddies in the Republican-controlled Congress have in store for the women of America.

The Nation: The War on Planned Parenthood Is Also an Assault on Poor Women of Color.

The youngest woman we took care of was twelve-years-old. She'd been molested by a family member beginning at the age of eight. But this young woman could easily have been one of my patients, too, and her story is more typical. I had an abortion at age 14 and I don't regret it. For eight years I let society shame me for my decision. But I'm not ashamed—and I believe no woman should be.

It's hard for me to believe that there are people in this world who would force a woman to carry a hopeless pregnancy to term, or punish her for deciding on an abortion. I took care of many women who had to make this impossible choice.

Interview With a Woman Who Recently Had an Abortion at 32 Weeks. Elizabeth* is 35. She grew up in the South, currently lives in Brooklyn, and has been married for two years. After a previous miscarriage at 10 weeks, she was overjoyed to find herself pregnant for a second time. At 31 weeks, she found out that the baby boy she was carrying wouldn’t be able to breathe outside the womb and would not survive. And at 32 weeks, she flew to Colorado to get a shot that would start the process of a third-trimester abortion; she then flew back to New York to finish the delivery. We talked on the phone two weeks into her recovery.

This was written by the physician who operates the clinic described in the above article. Stat: An abortion doctor on Trump’s win: ‘I fear for my life. I fear for my patients.’

You can support Dr. Hern's clinic: BOULDER ABORTION CLINIC RENOVATIONS AND SECURITY UPGRADES.

Quartz: Two case studies show what could happen in the U.S. if abortion were outlawed.

Here's another wrinkle. Abortion Clinics in Blue States Are Closing Too.

Last but not least: The Handmaiden's Tale: A Warning About Patriarchy and Power by Gloria Steinem. Let’s just say this novel is not exactly fiction.

If abortion rights mean as much to you as they do to me, here are some ways you can make a difference:

New York Magazine: How to become an abortion clinic escort.

The National Network of Abortion Funds. Abortion funds are nonprofit organizations that raise money specifically to help women and girls pay for their abortions.

From 2013 but still relevant: I'm a Case Manager for My Local Abortion Fund: Here's What Happens When You Call For Help

Planned Parenthood. There have already been 40,000+ donations made to PP in honor of Mike Pence. Finally, an internet meme that accomplishes something.

NARAL Pro-Choice America. I know Mike Pence would be pleased to hear that you were supporting NARAL.

National Abortion Federation. Hey, Mike's a big fan of theirs, too.

reposted with permission

Comments

argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[worlds_of_smoke]

This whole discussion is frustrating the fuck out of me. See, I never see people talking about the one way the new Republican government can get rid of Roe v. Wade in a single shot and probably outlaw contraception:

A personhood or heartbeat amendment to the US Constitution.

For those who don't know, these concepts limit abortion by either declaring a zygote a person from conception (personhood amendments) or declaring it illegal to have an abortion after the fetus's heart starts beating, which is often before the woman even knows she's pregnant. There's also fetal pain amendments, though those are a bit more difficult to defend because I don't even think scientists can agree on whether fetuses feel pain.

These could easily outlaw contraception, especially if there's a personhood amendment. Any form of contraception that prevents the zygote from implantation could be twisted into "it's killing a person!" And, let's get real, these people don't understand that most types of contraception actually prevents fertilization, so they can easily ignore the scientists and write the amendment so that all types of contraception outside of the calendar method or the pull out method are illegal.

It's great to support the people who are currently keeping abortion accessible. But why is nobody even mentioning the possibility of a personhood or heartbeat amendment? I think that it's really fucking likely that this is the way they're going to go. The anti-choicers have been trying to push those bills and amendments in many states and it seems to be their current go-to method of attacking abortion. The Republicans may be able to push it through Congress and I know, without a doubt, it would fucking be ratified by 38/50 of the states.

We need to talk about this possibility because I truly believe it is the real danger to reproductive rights here.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[tassosss]

My guess is that it's because not many people know about it. This is not something I knew. Thank you for sharing because that sounds really scary.

Do you have links to more info?

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[worlds_of_smoke]

This is just my hunch. If you want to see what type of bills and amendments have been attempted, just google "personhood amendment" or "heartbeat bill".

It really does seem to be their go-to method. And, to me, this seems to be the best way to get rid of abortion. If they get their way and this sort of thing becomes an amendment, abortion and contraception would be outlawed for generations, if not forever. Why go for something that could be potentially overturned if the Supreme Court turns liberal when you can enshrine something in the Constitution? It's much more difficult to repeal amendments.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[tassosss]

Will do. I'll pull together a post about it. Probably won't go up till next week, but we'll bring it into the discussion here.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[abyssinia]

I hear your fear and I understand it but I think the odds of a constitutional amendment are incredibly unlikely. Many states have tried to pass personhood amendments for their states and they almost always fail (I say almost, but I'm not aware of any succeeding) - so the odds of 38 states ratifying aren't high. Plus it has to get through 2/3rds of both the House and Senate first (not just a majority).

Pro-birthers in many states have responded to their failure to pass personhood amendments by all those other laws that make abortion essentially illegal/inaccessible without outright doing so - I think that's what we're more likely to see. And, with the current climate, an overturn of Roe vs. Wade (though that would require justices who are not only conservative but willing to ignore judicial precedent - so, you know, worse than Scalia).

We are, unquestionably, going to see big threats to reproductive rights and we need to be vigilant against all attacks. We'll see what happens...

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[worlds_of_smoke]

It might be unlikely, but it's not something we can assume they're not going to attempt. We got blindsided by Trump and, honestly, I'd rather be overly paranoid at this point. If we assume the worst, we'll be prepared if it happens. And if it doesn't, we'll still be prepared.

[wendelah1]

Hi. There's a missing bit in my link to the National Abortion Federation, which is why it doesn't work.

Sorry.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[wendelah1]

Hi. Thank you for your comment. This wasn't intended to be a discussion about all of the ways in which our right to choose could be threatened. I merely wanted to provide suggestions to people who wanted to contribute to the fight. NARAL's reason for being is to work to protect those rights, however they are being threatened, including the possibility of a constitutional amendment. Planned Parenthood also has a lobbying arm. However, the only time such an amendment got to the floor of the Senate for a vote was in 1983, the Hatch/Eagleton amendment. It fell 18 votes short of the 67 required to pass it. I haven't looked at the voting record of each current member but offhand I don't see the necessary votes in the Senate. The Republicans hold the Senate, but they hold it narrowly.

The Right to Life movement has been much more successful at chipping away at Roe v. Wade via changes in state law. If it gets overturned during Trump's administration, we'll be in a world of hurt. This is the most recent info I could find that goes state by state: http://www.nrlc.org/uploads/communications/stateofabortion2016.pdf

I could be wrong--and this could change for the worse--but I don't currently see the votes for a Constitutional amendment in the needed 38 state legislatures either. The best thing to do right now is to join NARAL or another abortion rights group, stay updated and involved.

[tassosss]

Fixed!

[wendelah1]

Thanks.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[worlds_of_smoke]

I apologize. I didn't know this wasn't a discussion forum. /o\

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[tassosss]

We certainly welcome comments on posts, but do remember that many posts are aimed toward current information and links that people can go to for more info and action on a topic, and they can't always cover everything. There are a lot of angles to many topics.

We can certainly do a separate post on personhood amendments to see where they stand. Since the goal of the comm is to avoid misinformation, we'd like to have posts backed up by credible sources. We have a suggestions post sticky on the recent entries page, and I've already added to my list to look into.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[worlds_of_smoke]

My apologies. I'll keep all this in mind.

Re: argh!!!! (icon aimed towards Republicans.)

[wendelah1]

There is no reason to apologize. As far as I know, this could be a discussion forum? It's not my community in any case. I only tried to address your concerns because the post was copy-pasted from my personal journal, with permission. I'm not a lawyer or a doctor or even a practicing RN any longer--I'm just a rank and file member of Planned Parenthood and NARAL. That said, I am positive they have people monitoring legislation at the state and federal levels.

Next Sunday Amy Brenneman will be speaking at All Saints Church Pasadena in the community forum, her announced topic, "The Fight for Reproductive Justice." If you're not in the area, the church does stream everything online. She will take questions I'm pretty certain and if you like, I can ask about this issue for you?